Teaching and learning Landscape Ecology to Landscape Architects in Italy : toward protective, adaptative, redundant landscape design

Some words are more and more used by different disciplines to focus on contemporary challenges, for exampe \u201csustainability\u201d and \u201cresilience\u201d, becoming trendy slogans, but the real understanding of these concepts in Landscape Ecology is necessary to avoid their loss of significance, and to add effectiveness to ecological based projects and actions. The collaborative partnership between Landscape Ecology and Landscape Architecture is a fundamental opportunity. Landscape Ecology is a necessary topic for landscape architects' education and its application becomes a tool for landscape projects. A good landscape architect can play a significative role in the promotion of people's appreciation of landscape in terms of resources (cfr. Almo Farina " theory of resources"). Starting from the experience, of more than 30 years, by the Genoese Landscape Architecture School, from the theoric teaching by Almo Farina and Vittorio Ingegnoli (see Ecofield theory, spatial configuration of functional elements , shifting mosaic, BTC measurement, Landscape Bionomics), to the applicative courses and experimental design of landscapes at different dimensions, the discipline of Landscape Ecology is a clear guide to the understanding of landscape configuration, and of its critical actual aspects. In the actual main Italian Schools of Landscape Architecture (Genoa/Turin/Milan, Florence, Rome, Milan) a fundamental role is given to Landscape Ecology education. Particularly in the Genoa/Turin/Milan Master Degree in Landscape Architecture, the experimental applicative approach to design by Landscape Ecology (in the brilliant courses of Applied Landscape Ecology by Gioia Gibelli and Luigino Pirola, with the help of Applied Botany), gives necessary tools to face the challenges of contemporary society, with particular reference to resources and needs, such as water, food production, ecosystemic services, socio-ecological relations, safetiness of everyday landscapes

Choroidal thickness changes measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography in third trimester pregnant women

The aim of this article is to underline the effect of pregnancy on the variations of choroidal thickness caused by hormonal and haemodynamic changes

La Riserva Naturale Orientata “Laghetti di Marinello” (Messina) : strategie di conservazione attiva per la salvaguardia e la fruizione del paesaggio costiero

La Riserva Naturale Orientata \u201cLaghetti di Marinello\u201d \ue8 una porzione ridotta di territorio che presenta molte delle caratteristiche del paesaggio siciliano, dove sono evidenti sovrapposizioni storiche di fenomeni appartenenti ad epoche diverse. La mutevolezza di questo paesaggio, for- se la sua caratteristica pi\uf9 a ascinante, \ue8 strettamente legata alle azioni antropiche che lo han- no generato. Ad oggi, anche la responsabilit\ue0 del suo progressivo degrado \ue8 di origine antropica e, senza adeguati interventi, lo sar\ue0 anche della sua scomparsa, con conseguente perdita di bio- diversit\ue0, fattore che ha contribuito al riconoscimento dell\u2019area come Riserva Naturale Orienta- ta. Questo lavoro procede su due livelli di analisi e di progetto. In una prima fase, sono state indi- viduate le potenzialit\ue0 e le criticit\ue0 per sviluppare un progetto di massima di promozione e valo- rizzazione territoriale a scala vasta. Il livello successivo riguarda interventi di conservazione at- tiva, mirati alla salvaguardia ed al miglioramento della fruizione della laguna e del promontorio che la sovrasta.The \u201cLaghetti di Marinello\u201d Nature Reserve is a small portion of territory that reveals many of the most peculiar features of Sicilian landscape. The ckleness of this place is strictly connected to human actions, that gave birth to this area and might probably lead it soon to an end. This work is focused on two di erent levels of analysis and planning. Firstly, a territorial enhancement plan was developed on a broad scale. Secondly, a more detailed project was created, featuring inter- ventions of active conservation, to improve and protect the lagoon environment and the prom- ontory above

Motor skills in children affected by strabismus

Objectives: To compare motor skills in patients with infantile strabismus and age and sex-matched control subjects aged 5–11 years. Methods: Motor performances were assessed by the Italian version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ) in children with infantile strabismus and age and sex-matched control subjects. Patients affected by specific neurological, cognitive and behavioural disorders were excluded from the study. Results: There were 43 patients included in the study, 23 in the strabismus group (14 males, 9 females, mean age 7.5 ± 2.0 years) and 24 in the control group (14 males and 10 females, mean age 7.2 ± 1.7 years. The overall DCDQ score was significantly lower in children with strabismus compared with control subjects (58.7 ± 11.3 vs. 74.2 ± 1.5; P < 0.001). Children with strabismus and no stereopsis showed a lower DCDQ score compared with those with normal stereopsis (50.8 ± 9.5 vs. 67.3 ± 4.8; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Motor skills are reduced in children with strabismus compared with control subjects. Strabismus and lack of binocular vision are factors potentially contributing to developmental coordination disorder

Effect of Light Environment on Growth and Phenylpropanoids of Yarrow (Achillea collina cv. SPAK) Grown in the Alps

A two year field study on the effect of different light environments, obtained by using cladding materials (polyethylene films and shade net) able to cut off specific regions of the PAR and UV wavebands, on the growth and phenylpropanoids content of Achillea collina grown in the Alps was conducted. Overall the plant growth was strongly enhanced in the second growing season irrespective of radiation treatment. The light environment did not affect total biomass accumulation but only carbon allocation to leaves or inflorescences. Indeed the phenylpropanoid levels in inflorescences appeared to be more sensitive to the light environment than leaves as the latter showed high constitutive amounts of these compounds. However, the use of polyethylene films improved to some extent the content of caffeic acid derivatives in leaves. Our results showed that yarrow production, in the alpine situation considered, is influenced by the growing season and the light environment, providing a basis to optimize its quality, depending on the concentration of bioactive compounds, by means of proper agronomic practices

Volatile fingerprint of Italian populations of Orchids using solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

The volatile fraction of Ophrys sphegodes Mill. subsp. sphegodes, Ophrys bertolonii subsp. benacensis (Reisigl) O. Danesch, E. Danasch & Ehrend. and Neotinea tridentata (Scop.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Case, three orchid species with different pollinator attraction strategies, sampled in vivo and in situ, were evaluated by headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results were compared with the volatile compounds emitted by flowering plant samples picked from the same populations of orchid species. Hydrocarbons, aldehydes, alcohols and terpenes were the major constituents of \u201cin vivo\u201d orchid scents and some distinctive differences in volatile metabolite composition were observed between Ophrys and Neotinea species. Moreover, the odour bouquets of the picked flowering plant samples were different from the in vivo ones and in particular different proportions of the various terpenes and an increase of \u3b1-pinene were observed. In conclusion HS/SPME GCMS proved to be a suitable technique for analyzing and distinguishing the volatile fingerprint of different orchid species, sampled in vivo and in situ in a non-disruptive way, with potentially great advantages for ecophysiological studies of rare and endangered species

The upcoming role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for retinal and glaucomatous diseases

: In recent years, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning (DL) models is attracting increasing global interest in the field of ophthalmology. DL models are considered the current state-of-art among the AI technologies. In fact, DL systems have the capability to recognize, quantify and describe pathological clinical features. Their role is currently being investigated for the early diagnosis and management of several retinal diseases and glaucoma. The application of DL models to fundus photographs, visual fields and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging has provided promising results in the early detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR), wet age-related macular degeneration (w-AMD), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and glaucoma. In this review we analyze the current evidence of AI applied to these ocular diseases, as well as discuss the possible future developments and potential clinical implications, without neglecting the present limitations and challenges in order to adopt AI and DL models as powerful tools in the everyday routine clinical practice